Chances Of Getting Any Disease From A Safety Pin If It Is Pricked To Finger?
Thanks for writing to us.
I don’t think you need to get your daughter tested.
Yes, this can be of concern to you since the safety pin was open. However, please note that propagation of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis B through a safety pin requires that the germs get access to the blood stream through a prick or in other words the safety pin should damage the blood vessels that are present in the skin.
Therefore, if you check her fingers and hand carefully and find no evidence of blood or a track in the skin due to bleeding then you can be reassured that the pin has not penetrated the skin and the chances of getting any infection is nearly nullified.
Additionally, I would like to inform you that the chances of getting infected by a safety pin are MUCH LESS compared to a hollow needle. The reason is that the safety pin is solid and can contain much less amount of contaminated blood compared to a hollow needle.
Also, microbes like HIV, when kept exposed to the air for some time lose their infectivity therefore even if contaminated, the chances of getting infection through the same is much less with increased duration of exposure.
Worldwide, there have been only a few incidences of getting infection by this method and all of those had OBVIOUS bleeding from a prick.
Therefore, you can be rest assured that the chances of your daughter getting infected from what you have described are NEARLY NIL. Despite this, if you feel concerned, you can contact an infectious disease specialist to allay your fear but I feel this is typically not required.
Even in our surgical patients such an incidence would not mandate additional testing therefore there is no need of being afraid or subject the child to additional testing!
Let me know if you have any more questions
Regards
As I mentioned before, the chances of getting Hep B or C with a hollow needle is much more than when compared to a safety pin. There is one more point: if she had pricked her finger somewhere followed by some bleeding then there would have been a XXXXXXX definitely in one of the fingers and the affected area would remain tender for quite a few days. If there is nothing like that, then you can be assured that nothing sinister is going to happen. It is not useful to test her at this stage because there is something called a loading dose without which infection cannot occur. In her case, I would ask you to stop worrying and ignore the matter completely. However, I know that it is better said than done so at least I can ask you to keep trying!!!